Faculty Refuses to Allow Varsity To Enter NCAA Hockey Tourney

The Faculty Committee on Athletics has refused for the second straight year to permit the varsity hockey team to enter the NCAA national tournament.

As was the case last year, the Committee gave no official reason for its action, but one member explained that "the emphasis upon the tournament and upon the athletic programs of some competing schools has grown far out of proportion."

The Committee has objected in the past to the unfair recruiting practices of Western colleges, but according to a member, it feels that it can make more progress on the situation without making its objections public or official.

Thomas D. Bolles, Director of Athletics, said yesterday that the University has been working through the Ivy League for years on the Western college problem. "We have made progress," he said, "but progress nationally is slow."

Decision Subject to Yearly Review

In a brief statement the Committee said that it "has reviewed the matter of the University's position with respect to the NCAA hockey tournament and has decided that Harvard will not participate this year. This decision will be subject to review in the future as the occasion demands."

"The Committee is not going to announce at the beginning of each season whether we are interested in playing in the tournament," Bolles stated. He said that the Faculty votes on all post-season or tournament invitations as a matter of

A poll of the Committee was completed Tuesday, Bolles said, in answer to a request from the Eastern hockey selection committee for contending teams to express their interest in participating in the tournament.

"How Harvard may perform in the tournament competition did not enter into the decision," Bolles maintained. Dean Watson said last month that the calibre of the hockey team would be a factor.

Members of the team said that they were led to believe that their performance determined to a large degree the Committee's decision. Several players said that they viewed their loss to Boston College in the Beanpot Tourney as the deciding factor in the decision.

They mentioned a telegram posted in the dressing room before the B.C. game on Feb. 13 bidding them to "prove you are of NCAA calibre;" it was signed "Dean Watson." Watson denied yesterday that he had sent the wire and said that he was not sure who would have sent it in his name.